“Marry Me” informal settlement widow Nteseng Willheminah Morake Setlai (45) has appealed to President Cyril Ramaphosa for help because law-enforcement agencies like the SAPS, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) as well as the Public Protector have all failed her.
Widow Setlai is crying foul over the way the said law-enforcement agencies handled the death of her husband Doctor Setlai who was 51 years old at the time of his death and employed as a security guard.
Morake suspects there is a cover-up to shield those who are responsible for the death of her husband, who was allegedly shot at close range by a rubber bullet emanating from a gun of a Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) officer on 18 April 2021, during running battles between “Marry Me” informal settlement dwellers and the TMPD officers.
The rubber bullet hit Setlai in the chest and he died instantly.
The scuffle between the residents and the TMPD had ensued after the residents were caught connecting electricity illegally to their shacks from neighbouring Baviaanspoort settlement.
“Marry Me” informal settlement is officially known as Amanda Park and is situated by the mountainside in the Far East of Mamelodi.
According to witness David Paile, who asserts that he was with Setlai on the night that he was killed, the latter was not even part of the crowd of residents that were fighting against the TMPD and was not even armed.
“Yet he got shot when he came out of a car, he had been sleeping in to flex his body muscles as he was tired from sleep,” said Paile.
“I saw the TMPD officer who killed Setlai, it was a drunk woman officer,” he said.
“Now instead of us being questioned as potential witnesses to the murder incident, my two friends and I were arrested on the spot by the TMPD officers and taken to the Mamelodi East Police station where we were locked up for two days without being charged and our case was then withdrawn in court on the third day after residents staged a protest at the Mamelodi East Police station demanding our immediate release,” explained Paile.
“This is a blatant case of unlawful arrest and the aim of the TMPD, and the police was clearly to intimidate us from speaking about how we saw a TMPD officer killing Setlai,” lamented Paile.
“This case has been dragging on for close to three years and nine months now and the Mamelodi East Police and IPID have not yet visited me to explain the circumstances under which my husband died, and I have so many questions for them because I want closure,” griped widow Setlai.
Regulation 3 of the IPID states that any member of the IPID may open a case against suspected police officers within seven days after receipt of complaint against the police officer if that member feels the complaint falls within the ambit of the IPID.
This has apparently not been done in the case of the late Setlai.
Regulation 4 of the IPID states that a determination must be made within 90 days of receipt of a complaint as to whether the police officer involved in a civilian’s murder has to be arrested or not.
During this period witnesses to the crime scene must be interviewed and monthly reports regarding the progress of the case must be provided to the victim’s next of kin and the IPID investigator must, during this period reconstruct the crime scene if that is necessary.
As in regulation 3, regulation 4 prescripts were apparently not performed either by the IPID in the case of the late Setlai.
When approached to comment on the lack of progress regarding investigations into Setlai’s murder, the then Mamelodi East Police spokesperson Constable Lethabo Mashilwane said at the time that he won’t comment on Setlai’s murder unless a case/docket number from Setlai’s family was submitted to him.
The said case number 261/04/ 2021 was then obtained from widow Wilhelmina Setlai and duly submitted to him.
But Mashilwane did an about-turn by indicating that he can’t speak about the case as it was being investigated by IPID and also refused to explain why potential witnesses like David Paile had been arrested without being charged.
On 14 April 2021, a day after Setlai’s murder, TMPD Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba was quoted in the media admitting that Setlai died as a result of a rubber bullet wound during an altercation between ” Marry Me” informal settlement residents and the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD).
In the selfsame article, the TMPD is quoted as saying it will conduct its own internal inquiry to determine the cause of death of Doctor Setlai.
But up until now in 2025 Mahamba has still not responded to queries regarding the outcome of the said internal inquiry and also as to which TMPD officer was subjected to the said hearing if ever there was one.
When IPID Communications officer Lizzy Suping was asked as to when the IPID had commenced its investigation into Setlai’s murder, she responded as follows:
“We are looking at all circumstances that led to the death of the civilian (Setlai) and we started investigations in January 2021.”
But Suping’s response is problematic and not genuine because Setlai died in April 2021 and it is therefore nonsensical that investigations into his death started in January 2021, four months before his actual death.
Suping was then asked via a WhatsApp message to rectify the date of the investigation but so far, she has failed to do so.
This raised suspicion that no investigation whatsoever was conducted by the IPID.
Lobby group AfriForum was then approached to help regarding the progress of investigations and the response they got from IPID was that the IPID was still waiting for a toxicology report regarding Setlai’s murder.
Up until now in 2025 IPID hasn’t informed widow Setlai about the results of the so-called toxicology report.
IPID chief investigator Osborne Khanye was then asked as to whether the toxicology report was relevant to this case as Setlai had died from rubber bullet wounds and not poisoning and he responded as follows:
“I want to believe that there is a reason why the doctor (pathologist) recommended toxicology testing.”
Widow Setlai then approached the Public Protector and up until now she has not been told about the outcome of their investigations if any were ever conducted in the first place.
In December last year, a lawyer known as Advocate Ndou, who Mrs Setlai had asked to help her in this matter, informed Mrs Setlai that the TMPD was refusing to take responsibility for the death of her husband Doctor Setlai because a claim for damages in this matter was lodged outside the “stipulated” 6 months.
This is also problematic because there is no way the TMPD, or any organisation can accept responsibility for someone’s death if it has not been proved in court that its member or employee is guilty of the said murder.
“I am tired, I have lost hope, there is a cover-up going on here and I am therefore appealing to President Cyril Ramaphosa himself to help me find the truth regarding the killer of my husband,” said a distraught, sobbing Mrs Setlai.